This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/001,418, filed Jul. 25, 1995.
Efforts to induce antipsychotic activity with dopamine autoreceptor agonists have been successful (Corsini et al. Adv. Biochem. Psychopharmacol 16, 645-648, 1977; Tamminga et at. Science 200, 567-568, 1978; and Tamminga et al. Psychiatry 398-402, 1986). A method for determining intrinsic activity at the dopamine D.sub.2 receptor was recently reported [Lahti et al., Mol. Pharm. 42, 432-438, (1993)]. Intrinsic activity is predicted using the ratio of the "low-affinity agonist" (LowAg) state of the receptor and the "high-affinity agonist" (HighAg) state of the receptor, i.e. LowAg/HighAg. These ratios correlate with the agonist, partial agonist, and antagonist activities of a given compound, which activities characterize a compounds ability to elicit an antipsychotic effect.